Family Ties
by Kathy Knudsen1
Summary: Kid discovers he may have a brother in Tinley, but is reluctant to find out.


FAMILY TIES

Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes walked into the Sheriff's office in Porterville one Sunday morning in early July. They had chosen a Sunday morning knowing most folks would be in church so they could come in to town essentially unnoticed.

Three months earlier, knowing Curry and Heyes were in Elko, Wyoming, Lom Trevers had sent them, or rather Kid, a telegram stating he had received a letter addressed to Kid that he would hold until the next time the boys were in Porterville. The telegram had peaked Heyes' curiosity as to who would be sending Kid a letter, but Kid was disinterested and content to let Lom hold the letter indefinitely.

Kid's attitude only stirred Heyes' curiosity and he had spent a good deal of time over the last three months trying to convince Kid it was worth spending a few days traveling through the Wyoming Territory to visit Porterville and retrieve the letter.

Kid had argued that he knew no one that would be sending him a letter and surmised that it was likely just a reporter or a dime novel writer requesting an interview with the two notorious outlaws, something neither would ever consider, let along agree to.

But then, a week ago, Lom had sent another telegram, this time to Colorado Springs where the boys had gone for a high stakes poker game Heyes had heard about. This telegram stated he had received another letter and this time the sender had written his or her surname in the upper right hand corner. The surname was Curry.

Again Kid had argued that, since Han was his only surviving relative, and his surname was not Curry, the letter was of no importance. But Heyes came up with half a dozen reasons why Kid should at least read the letters. Heyes most persuasive argument was that he would not stop trying to convince Kid. After a four days of Heyes persistence, Kid relented, if only to shut Heyes up.

"So, you finally got my telegram," Lom said when the boys walked into the jail.

"We got both of them, Lom. Just had some trouble convincing Kid to come and pick them up," Heyes explained.

Lom reached into a desk drawer and retrieved the two letters. He handed them both to Kid. He looked at the postmarks and, leaning his right shoulder against the wall, Kid opened the letter and began reading. Kid's expression did not change and Heyes, who studied Kid closely as Kid read the letter, could not read Kid's poker face.

"See for yourself. I told you it weren't worth coming to Porterville for," Kid said, folding the letter in half and handing it to Heyes. Heyes quickly unfolded the letter and began reading.

"_Jed, I read a news papers article recently saying you and Han had not committed a robbery in nearly three years. I assume this means you are either dead, in jail somewhere. or trying to mend your ways. I truly hope it is the latter reason and, if that be the case, perhaps it's time to reunite, if only to try to clear the air. Sam"_

Astonished, Heyes looked up at Kid who simply sighed and shook his head.

"You don't want to check this out?" Heyes asked, handing the letter back to Kid.

"Nope,"

"Why?"

"Heyes, Sam is dead. It's a hoax or some kind of scan."

What are you boys talking about? Who is Sam?" Lom asked.

"I had a brother named Sam, fifteen years older than me. He joined the army when I was seven. I barely knew him. The next year Pa got word that he had died at Shiloh."

"Did the army ship the body back to Kansas?" Lom asked.

"No," Kid replied.

"Well what does the other letter say?" Heyes asked.

Kid handed the second letter, still unopened, to Heyes. "You're so curious, you find out."

Heyes opened the letter and read it out loud.

_'Jed, _ _ if you are able to write or visit, I am in Tanley. If I don't hear from you, I will assume you don't want any contact. I truly hope that is not the case. We do have family matters to discuss. Sam."_

"Kid, what if these are legitimate?" "

"Then he's your cousin, why don't you go see him?"

"Tinley is only about sixty miles from here, Kid. It wouldn't take much effort to go and check it out."

"Takes even less effort not to," Kid replied.

Samuel T Curry drove his buckboard into Tinley the third Saturday of every month to pick up supplies. Every time he did this, heads turned. They were mostly female heads that turned as Sam, for all his forty-five years, could only be described as eye catching handsome. He had the dusty blonde, curly hair of a Curry, the almost pout y lips, a sun-baked complexion, and the most beautiful icy blue eyes. He owned a small cattle ranch, was not rich, but was financially comfortable, single, polite and personable. But he kept to himself mostly and therefore, was an intriguing man to most of the single women in town.

Sam brought the wagon to a stop in front of the mercantile. He the tethered the horses to the post and pulled his supply list from his shirt pocket. He dropped the list off with the store clerk, telling him he would be back in a hour to load the supplies. He tipped his hat to two women entering the mercantile and stepped out on to the boardwalk. He crossed the street to the telegraph office to see if he had received a message. When he had not, he frowned and headed for the saloon for a beer.

"Kid aren't you the least bit curious?" Heyes asked for the umpteenth time that day.

Kid sat at the small table in their hotel room cleaning his gun. "Heyes, you know as well as I do that Sam is dead. Going to Tinley is just a waste of time."

"Kid, that's the point. Neither you nor me knows for a fact that Sam died at Shiloh. All your family got was a letter from the army saying he died. A lot of soldiers died in that war. A lot of soldiers deserted. The army couldn't keep track of everyone. Maybe Sam survived. Maybe he was wounded and taken in by some family. There could be half a dozen explanations, all legitimate. Don't you think it's worth finding out?"

"Heyes, the war has been over for almost fifteen years. Why would he wait till now to contact me?"

"That's just one of the things to find out, Kid."

Kid set his gun down on the table and looked at Heyes. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"No, Kid, I'm not. If we have family out there, I think we should know it."

Exasperated, Kid leaned back in the chair. "Alright. We'll leave in the morning."

"Nope. You will leave in the morning. I'll stay here?"

"Why?"

"Because he didn't ask to see me. If it is Sam and things work out well, you can wire me to come. If they don't, then come back here and we'll head back to Colorado Springs."

Kid was taken aback. "If this ain't Sam, if this is some kind of hoax, you're not going to be there to watch my back?"

"Kid, I really think this is legitimate. But if you really want me nearby, I'll go. I just won't go into town.

Kid sighed heavily and shook his head. "No, you stay here. It's only a day and a half ride. I'll let you know if I need you."

Two days later, Kid rode into Tinley. It was late afternoon. Kid pulled his horse to the hitching post outside of the saloon and went inside. By pure habit, Kid carefully eyed the room before walking up to the far end of the bar.

"Changing your habits are you?" the bartender asked as he poured a mug of beer and carried down to Kid.

"What?" Kid asked.

"Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone else. You've got to be a relative though, right?"

"A relative?"

"Sam Curry. You're the spitting image of Sam, minus a few years.."

Kid took a long draw of his beer and shook his head so as not to have to answer the man directly."

"You sure look like him," the bartender said.

Setting his mug on the bar, Kid turned his back to the bar and looked at the table where the only other three men in the room were sitting.

"Where could I find Sam Curry?" Kid asked.

"He's got a ranch about ten miles west of town. You can't miss it. It's the only house you can see from the road."

Kidd nodded. He turned and took another large gulp of beer and reached into his vest pocket for change. He dropped a dime on the counter and walked back outside and mounted his horse and rode west out of town. He stopped at the lane leading to a log cabin set about a half a mile back from the road. The bartender's comment had unnerved him and he sat at the edge of the lane for several minutes regaining his composure. Finally he gave his horse a gentle kick and proceeded down the lane.

Kid dismounted and walked up the two wooden steps to the porch. He knocked on the door and waited. No answer. He knocked a second time and still no answer. So he turned and sat down on the steps and waited.

It was nearly dusk when a man rode in from behind the house and led his horse into the barn. Ten minutes later the man came out of the barn and walked toward the house. Kid stood up and took a couple of steps away from the porch. The man looked up and stopped dead in his tracks. The two men looked at each other for nearly a full minute before Sam continued to walk to the house. He stopped ten feet in front of Kid.

"I thought you were dead," Sam said sadly.

"Thought you were, too," Kid replied.

Sam smiled. "So much for thinking."

The corners of Kid's mouth turned upward."Yep," he replied.

"It's good to see you, Jed... Anybody know your here?"

"Bartender, and Han."

"Han's here?" Sam asked

"No, but not far."

Sam nodded. "You two still partners?"

"That's what you brung me out here to find out?"

"No... No... Jed... Let's go inside. I'll fix you supper."

Kid followed Sam into the house, a one room log cabin with a single bed on each side of the room, a table and chairs in the center, but little else in the way of furniture, Living alone, Sam didn't need any more.

"Sit down, Jed. I'll fix you some coffee.

"Kid," Jed said as he sat down.

"What?"

"Folks call me Kid."

"As in Kid Curry, the outlaw."

"Pa called me Kid," Jed said flatly.

"Alright... Kid."

Sam fixed the coffee and put a pot of left over stew on the hearth to warm. Then he sat down at the table across from Kid.

"I didn't know what happened till three months after they were killed," Sam said, deciding to try to remove the elephant from the room."

"Why didn't you come back,? Kid asked, wanting to add _for me,_ but deciding against it.

"I thought everyone was dead, including you. I didn't see the point coming back that long a time after."

"Han and me were the ones that found them. We're the ones that buried the bodies, all ten of them. I was ten years old. We got sent to an orphanage... It wasn't a good place. When Han was old enough to leave, he knew he couldn't leave me there alone. …. Hannibal Heyes is the only family I got."

Sam sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. If I had known you were alive I would have..."

"Sure you would have," Kid interrupted.

Sam looked hard at Kid. "You're a hard nut to crack, aren't you?" he said.

"Why did you want to see me, Sam?" Kid asked

Sam continued to look at Kid, but didn't answer the question.

"Is it true that you and Han have gone straight?"

"We ain't robbed nothing in three years."

"What made you become an outlaw?"

"Why did you become a farmer?"

A sad smile crossed Sam's face. "Circumstance, I suppose."

"I was an outlaw for ten years. It's been almost three years since I stopped. That's thirteen years that you've likely known I was alive. So why all of a sudden now? "Why did you get hold of me now?"

Sam sipped his coffee. Then he got up and went over to the fire to stir the stew. He picked up an old, fragile envelope from the mantle and brought it back to the table. He hesitantly held it out to Kid.

"What is it?" Kid asked.

"It's the last letter I got from Pa. He mailed it two days before he died."

Kid did not reach out for the letter. "I think I should go, Sam." he said quietly

"I think you should read this. I think you should know."

"And I think you should go to hell," Kid replied and pushed his chair back and went outside, mounted his horse, and headed back in the dark for Porterville.

Kid rode all night and most of the next day. He arrived in Porterville around suppertime, went straight to their hotel room, pulled off his boots , hung his gun belt on the bed post, and fell into bed.

Returning from the cafe, Heyes was surprised to see Kid's horse tethered outside the hotel. He went to the room and tried the door. Kid had not locked it, so Heyes went in and saw Kid sleeping on the bed. Kid looked weather beaten. Heyes surmised the visit had not gone well for Kid to be back so soon. Taking some money from the dresser, Heyes left to take Kid's horse to the livery stable and then headed to the saloon to play poker and to give Kid peace and quiet to sleep.

It was after midnight when Kid pushed open the bat doors of the saloon, walked up to the bar and bought a bottle of whiskey and asked for two glasses. He carried the bottle and the glasses to an empty table and poured himself a shot and gulped it down. He was on this fourth shot when the poker game came to an end and Heyes spied him at the table.

"You look tired," Heyes said and noted the amount of whiskey missing from the bottle. He poured himself a drink and then filled Kid's glass .

Kid looked at Heyes with bleary eyes. "It's Sam," Kid said.

"What did he want?"

Kid shook his head. "He had a letter he wanted me to read.

"Who from?"

"Pa,"

"What did it say?"

Again Kid shook his head. "Didn't read it." He looked up at Heyes with a very soulful expression on his face. "I couldn't," he told Heyes.

"What's Sam like?"

"He looks just like Ma,"

"So just like you?"

Kid nodded.

"Is he nice?"

"Probably. I didn't give him much of a chance to show himself."

"Why not?"

"I told you I didn't want to do this, Heyes... It's too hard." Kid gulped down his fifth shot of whiskey. He didn't feel the burn of the whiskey in his throat.

"What's too hard, Kid? Facing your brother or facing the memories?"

Kid looked at Heyes. "Yep," he said slowly.

Heyes sighed, leaned back in his chair, and folded his arms across his chest.

"I think you should go back, Kid. And I think I should go with you this time."

Kid's tongue rolled against the inside of his cheek. He looked away and sighed heavily. Slowly his head began to nod.

Kid slept till noon and woke with splitting hang over headache that only intensified when he sat up on the edge of the bed. Heyes was dressed and stretched out on his bed, reading a book.

"Morning," Heyes said brightly and Kid cringed.

"Not so loud, Heyes," Kid said

"Hangover?"

"How much did I drink."

"More than your quota."

Kid closed his eyes and sighed. "Can you close the curtains?"

Heyes got up and pulled the curtains closed. "Better?"

"No, but thanks."

"You remember last night?"

"Not really."

"Well, you agreed to go back to Tinley with me."

"Why?"

"To see the letter, and to see if you and Sam can reach some sort of truce?"

"Truce?"

"Well, at least not hate him. You don't have to like him if you don't want to, but he is family. You ought not hate him."

"I can't go today, Heyes."

"I know. Today is a hot bath, something to eat, more sleep, and maybe a little poker, But no drinking."

Kid nodded in agreement.

The day was spent just as Heyes had suggested and by evening, Kid was feeling reasonable well again. They played poker till about ten that night and then stopped by the jail on a round-about way back to the hotel.

"So how did it go?" Lom asked.

"We're both heading back in the morning, Heyes replied.

"That well?" Lom said sarcastically.

"Yep," Heyes replied.

"Is he your brother, Kid?"

Kid nodded.

"Kid says he looks just like him, just fifteen years older."

"Really? Surprised he's never been arrested as Kid Curry."

"I think the age on the wanted posters probably had something to do with that," Kid said. "Plus, he's lived in Tinley a long time. Folks there know him."

"Do folks know you're his brother?"

Kid shrugged.

"You two be careful over there. I'm guessing it wouldn't be too hard to put two and two together when people see the both of you."

"We will, Lom," Heyes assured him.

The next morning Kid and Heyes set out for Tinley. They arrived the following late afternoon and opted to detour round the town as anyone who might recognize Kid as a Curry, might also figure out that the duo might possibly be the famous outlaws. Picking up the road a couple of miles passed Tinley, they rode on to Sam's ranch. The sun was setting when Kid knocked on the cabin door. Sam answered and looked surprised that Kid had returned and that he had cousin Hannibal with him.

"I didn't expect to see you again," Sam told Kid.

"Comes as just as much of a surprise to me. You remember Hannibal don't you, Sam?"

Sam smiled at Heyes. "Good to see you again Han," Said, said.

Sam opened the door wider to let the two men in. "I've got ham and beans and cornbread cooking. You're welcome to stay for supper. Stay as long as you'd like."

"Got any coffee?" Heyes asked.

"Yes, I'll get us all some. Please, have a seat.

Kid and Heyes sat down at the table while Sam got them each a cup of coffee. Then he sat down to join them.

"Lived here long?" Heyes asked

"About ten years. It's a pretty small operation. Two hundred head of cattle. Half a dozen hired hands.."

"That's nice, Sam. Glad to see you've done well in life."

Sam looked at Kid who had not spoken since he entered the house.

"So," Heyes continued. "I've been curious as to why you suddenly decided to get in touch with Kid?"

"I won't try to deny it, I've known for some time that you and Jed survived the massacre. Your notoriety made that plenty obvious. I've always wanted to keep a low profile..."

"I understand. You don't want people to know you're related to the outlaws," Heyes interjected.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Can you blame me?"

"Not for that... Lot of other things maybe."

"Like what?"

"Han," Kid warned. "Don't do it."

Heyes looked at Kid and relented.

"So why contact him now?"

"I read that neither of you has committed any robberies for nearly three years."

"That's right," Heyes replied.

"I read that and decided perhaps the time had to find Jed. The article mentioned Sheriff Trevers, so I thought he would be a good place to start."

"But we still don't know why? What are you looking for out of finding him?"

Sam looked at Kid and saw he was listening intently.

"Two things," Sam began. "I hope we might be able to establish some sort of...family relationship. You know...brothers."

"And the other thing?" Heyes asked.

"I recently came across some letters I had received during the war. There are a few from Pa.. In some of them, he talks about you, Jed. I thought reading his words, in his own handwriting might...help you."

"Help me with what?" Kid asked.

Sam sighed. "People don't just wake up one morning and decide to become outlaws."

"Ah," Heyes said. "So you think Kid is scarred..." Heyes knew there was some truth in that fact. They had both been scarred.

Sam got up and brought plates, utensils, and the food to the table. He filled the plates and handed one to Kid and one to Heyes before filling one for himself. No one felt compelled to eat.

"Sam," Kid began with an almost gentle inflection in his voice. "Since I was eight years old, Heyes is the only family I've had. I don't need to add to that. I'm sorry."

Sam looked directly at Kid. Blue Curry eyes met blue Curry eyes..

Sam nodded sadly. "I understand."

Kid's eyes moved to Heyes, but he continued talking to Sam. "I would like to see the letters," he said quietly.

Heyes smiled at Kid reassuringly.

Sam retrieved the letter from the mantle and handed it to Kid. Kid held the envelope in both hands. His right thumb caressed the bottom corner of the envelope, knowing that many years ago his father had held that same envelope in his own strong hands. The postmark was dated two days before soldiers murdered his family. Slowly, Kid turned the envelope over and slipped the letter out. He unfolded it and began reading to himself.

The letter began as most letters do, everyone still on the Kansas Curry farm was well, crops looked to be good, an old girlfriend of Sam's had married. Then Kid reached the third paragraph.

"_I am so thankful that little Jed is so much younger than you other boys, and will likely never know the perils of war; the death and devastation that you Sam, Josiah, and Henry face every day. _ _Other than the fact that his brothers are not here, Jed is a happy, boy, good natured, some times mischievous (as all eight year old boys are)._ _He's learning to shoot tin cans and has a keen eye and an impressive draw._ _You're cousin Hannibal treats him like a brother._ _Those two boys are inseparable and seem to compliment each other's talents (some good, some bad). They certainly look out for each other._ _Jed is a great comfort to your mother, and to me as well._ _I believe he is on the road to becoming a fine young man."_

The corners of Kid's mouth turned upward. He gently folded the letter and returned it to the envelope, then handed the envelope to Heyes and nodded his permission for Heyes to read the letter. Very slowly Kid raised sad eyes to meet Sam's.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Sam smiled sadly. "There are others. This one is the most poignant... I want you to keep this one, Jed."

Kid could feel tears filling his eyes. "Thank you, Sam." he whispered.

"Well, no one has touched supper. Let's eat. I'll show you the other letters after dinner," Sam said, lightening the mood in the room.

That evening, Kid sat alone by the fire and read the other letters. He could feel his father beside him in the room, a feeling he had not known since his father's death. Good memories flooded back to him. He felt content. That night Kid slept peacefully, his letter tucked carefully in his shirt pocket, next to his heart.

The next morning, Sam made bacon, eggs and biscuits for breakfast . They all had hearty appetites. They sat at the table after breakfast and lingered over coffee.

"Sam," Kid said looking at Heyes as he spoke. "There's a reason Han and I have not robbed any banks or trains in the past three years."

Heyes smiled and nodded his consent to tell Sam their saga.

"Han and I are working for amnesty. We're both still wanted until the amnesty comes through and that's...whenever the governor decides it time. Until that happens...we're still on the run. If we're arrested, we each serve twenty years in prison. We just can't risk putting down roots right now. But when the amnesty does happen...maybe you and I can work on that brother relationship."

Sam smiled softly. "I'd like that... Kid."


End file.
